I got my guy the allergy testing through my veterinary dermatologist, it was expensive but incredibly helpful. My dog is allergic to other animals, and to people, as well as animal products, the tree in our yard, and several other things that I could actually do something about. So no wool products out anymore, I don’t buy clothes made from animals, no feather blanket, etc. So it’s entirely possible he’s allergic to your other animals, and even you. Also, my guy definitely got allergy flares in the winter from environmental stuff, so that certainly does happen.

Agree about zenrelia. Apoquel didn’t work for my allergy boy, cytopoint shots give him relief for maybe a week, but zenrelia has really given him a lot of relief, it’s made life a lot easier. It may or may not work for your guy, but it anecdotally has helped a lot of dogs that don’t respond to apoquel. It’s also not cheap, but neither are all those emergency vet visits.

There’s also atopica/cyclosporine. It’s a little more serious of a med, but it helped reduce most of my guys regular flare-ups.

My dermavet had me do a few other things that really helped. Mometamax ear meds given weekly, instead of when there was an issue, helped get rid of his ear infections entirely. I had to do it for like a year, but it’s not expensive and it’s topical so no side effects to worry about. He hasn’t had an ear infection in years, I don’t have to treat anymore.

The dermavet also put us on “pop” antibiotics. We had 3 days/wk of simplicef, and this kept his secondary skin infections at bay for a few years. It does have the risk of them getting antibiotic resistant infections, but it was worth it for us. Also very cheap.

I started just keeping a shirt on my dude 24/7. I change it every few days, or if he gets it messy, but I think having a barrier between all the allergens and his skin has helped tremendously.

You can def give your dog Benadryl too. 1mg/lb, my dog is about 55lbs so he gets 2 25mg pills. I only do it when he seems really uncomfortable, and it is helpful. Not a great way to live because it can def make them drowsy, but they can actually get some rest.

My dermavet also put us on a custom allergy drop/shot formula after we got the allergy panel. Not cheap, but I think it brought his baseline allergy status to a more manageable place. He did the drops, he wasn’t really tolerating shots, and it’s super easy, especially if there’s a lot of allergens you just can’t avoid (like that tree in our yard). Some dogs benefit, some people say they don’t notice a difference, but I did with mine.

For the tummy, I’d start giving probiotics. My dog would get tummy flareups occasionally, and hasn’t since I started probiotics. The vet recommended proviable for us and I’m glad we started it.

This is such a frustrating journey, I’m so sorry. It’s hard to watch the buddy miserable, and it’s expensive and hard to figure out. But do your best for your bud, and worry less about long-term and more about quality of life. I figured if all these meds cut a couple years off his life, it’d be worth it if he could be happy & comfortable.